DEPARTMENT FOR
BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (broadband)
issued by COI News Distribution Service. 26 November 2008
Ahead of
tomorrow's European Council meeting in Brussels on the
Electronic Communications & Networks Framework, Minister for
Communications, Technology & Broadcasting, Stephen Carter, said:
"Tomorrow's meeting is an important moment for the
telecommunications industry and for consumers, but a critical one
for broadband, and we warmly welcome the decision by the French
Presidency and the European commission to put universal broadband
onto Europe's agenda.
"We have a number of aims for this Council meeting, but key
among them has been getting the issue of broadband for all onto
the table.
"Europe needs to consider how best to ensure universal
availability and access, not just by connection but also by
device, to affordable broadband internet, which is already a
central service for millions of people across Europe. It is
crucial to the way many of us go about our lives and daily
business, and increasingly the means of delivering good public
services cost effectively."
"With Digital Switchover already creating a universal
terrestrial digital broadcasting infrastructure in the UK and
several other European countries, it is now time for Europe,
metaphorically and also perhaps literally, to consider digging or
at least opening up the trenches for universal access for
broadband." The Minister added "whether by wire,
satellite or any other means, broadband is the crucial
underpinning for a competitive global Europe."